Saturday, March 21, 2009

Pg. 69: Peter Schechter's "Pipeline"

A new Cold War has arrived, posing deep threats to our national security. Country after country is bending to the will of a newly resurgent Russia willing to use its vast natural gas reserves as a foreign policy sword. Suddenly the United States also finds itself needing energy from an increasingly hostile Russia. And only a handful of unsuspecting insiders can save America from ruthless Moscow oligarchs who seek to ensnare our country in ever-deeper energy dependence.

* In a small apartment, in the middle of a damp D.C. summer night, Tony Ruiz, special assistant to the president, gets a phone call from the White House. Blackouts in California are causing panic, the electric fences at the prison in Sacramento have powered down and prisoners are escaping, California is being plunged into a hellish nightmare...

* In a hotel room in Germany, the brilliant and feared American environmental activist Blaise Ryan is relieved to be away from the steady deterioration in her home state of California. A heated dinner argument with a powerful Russian energy executive lays bare the new alignments of world power...

* On an ordinary evening in an upscale neighborhood in Lima, a powerful Peruvian senator has a backseat conversation with managers from one of the world's most powerful natural gas companies. The senator's conversation could change the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere, and threaten the national security of the United States...

With a master's touch for capturing the essence of the day's more dangerous scenarios, Peter Schechter's Pipeline will leave readers questioning the possibilities of what our future holds, and who has the true power to harm the world.